Paying EDF Monthly

[Benjamin]

A couple of questions of anyone already doing this.

I know, very accurately, how much we've spent on electricity over the last three years. Do we have to accept the monthly figure that EDF say or can we suggest what we think is the correct monthly figure over the 10 month cycle.

Secondly, I want to initiate this regime just as the larger winter bills are due to arrive so that effectively EDF are funding our cash flow rather than us funding their's. As an example our first larger bill will be payable in January for the months of November and December. My aim would be to start the process by contacting EDF late December and making the first monthly payment in January, thereby avoiding paying the first large bill.

Thanks to anyone already paying monthly who can offer their experiences.

[Jotty]

I pay over 10 months, from September to June .I am not sure if you can choose when to begin the plan. I suspect that you can start to pay in January but it will be over 6 months, (to June)  but it's possible that there are other options.

 If I owe money at the end of this period I have July and August in which to pay it (this is calculated automatically by the EDF)

If I have overpaid I get a virement of the overpayment to the same account that my payments are taken from.

Both situations have arisen.

I have had the experience of changing circumstances where the previous year's payments were not a good guide to what I was going to use (again in both directions)

My local EDF were quite happy to take a higher monthly payment than they had estimated. Surprisingly they were also prepared to accept a lower figure on another occasion, knowing that I was in any case paying the majority monthly, and they had the two months at the end to recuperate any shortfall.

[ams]

We are on a 10 month cycle also, March to December. Initially we wanted to pay a higher amount per period however EDF refused to accept the higher amount as it was more than 20% than the prior 12 months average bill.

They suggested a lower amount which we went with. We ended up getting a refund in early January. They then adjusted the 10 monthly payment to a lower amount to reflect our lower consumption  adjusting for a price increase during the year.

 

I would suggest that you note the meter reading at the end of July as normally the rate per unit charged goes up on the 1st August and send them a note of the reading. We noted the readings and it was reflected in the summary bill. The same note of caution also relates to all other changes on the bill such as VAT, local taxes etc.

 

ams

 

[Benjamin]

Thanks for both of your replies.

It therefore appears that the monthly amount is open to discussion and that one can start any time in the year. I wanted to avoid a situation where we have to accept the monthly amount that EDF decide. We know that when we were buying the house that we went to EDF for an estimate of what our electricity running costs would be and figures we were given have subsequently turned out to be about 20% higher than our actual costs.

Thanks again.

[Quillan]

We changed over last year due to some heavy, and expensive winters. The one thing we noticed is that the payments didn't start till a couple of months after we sent the forms off. We still don't know if that was a processing delay but it was odd that it started after we had had a meter reading and then paid a normal bill. It may be coincidental but I got the feeling you have to square away the old system via a meter reading and bill before the monthly payments start but it does seem logical. Of course France being France different regions may differ in their approach as with many things.

[Jotty]

Benjamin "It therefore appears that the monthly amount is open to discussion and that one can start any time in the year."

Your first point is in line with my experience.

I suspect however that there are accounting moments in the year when all  has to be calculated, and settled.

For me it is the end of June, and for ams the end of December, both clearly at the end of a 6th month period.

There might be other such points at the end of March  and the end of September (quarterly) . It would be interesting to know if anybody else has a period that doesn't end on one of those dates.

Once I started in December, but this meant that I hadn't paid the September and October sums, and that year I had to continue in July and August.

They didn't calculate December-September. I still was billed at the end of the Sept-June cycle

I agree with Quillan that you have to clear off the old bill before starting this system. You are in effect paying in advance, and the old balance can't be paid off like this, so it's not a way to pay the heavy months of Nov-Feb in arrears. You need to build up a credit over the year

[ams]

That sounds correct. In our case we changed because every year we received our actual six monthly reading on the 24th december and was always huge, between €700 and €800.  The better half reminded me that we went into the EDF office paid the bill and then changed to the 10 monthly system.

 

ams

[Gardengirl]

We are now paying EDF by monthly direct debit. We didn't ask for this to start, but are very happy to pay in this way as we do in UK; we received a letter out of the blue, dated 1 September 08 from EDF. This method of payment started on 1 October, and runs until July 09. When we received the letter we had paid a total of 3 bills, which arrived monthly. The amounts varied a lot, and the amount asked for each month by direct debit seems a good estimate on their part; but as we only plan to be there for half of the year, we will be getting a rebate next July.

Jo

[Polremy]

we pay monthly, the reckoning up month being september.

last year we were in credit and were repaid directly into our bank account. the monthly payments were also reduced.

this year it was so accurate that we were only 11 euros out - we owed them - and we will pay that in october, nothing in november and then monthly again.

if you end up owing them a lot at the end of the 10 monthly payments i seem to remember that they split it between the following two months.

i have been very pleased with the system.

i agree it would be nice to be able to choose when to start

but i think you would be lucky to be able to organise this.

going off subject slightly, the water payment works monthly and we pay only 15 euros. Every year we have ended up owing them 200-300 which they deduct from our bank account. however, they have never suggested increasing our monthly payment. And I have never suggested it! (strangely enough - I'd much rather I held on to the money until absolutely necessary)

[Benjamin]

Thanks to the rest of you for your input.

In our area we have not one but two accounting moments in the year - the end of June and the end of December when our meter is physically read. At the other four two monthly ends I send off the actual readings normally via their web site but last week I did it by 'phone so there are never any points in the year when we have estimated readings flying around.

I should point out that this is not an exercise on our part to get good old EDF to do our budgeting for us but is merely opportunistic on my part where I thought I could see an opportunity to smooth our cash flow and at the same time get EDF to fund part of that exercise. If I can't chose the point at which the monthly payments commence then it all becomes a bit pointless from our point of view. I will however stick to my original plan and talk to them in mid to late December. I'll let you know how I get on.

I've always found throughout my adult life that when things are financially hard it pays to look at every angle for maximising opportuinties to our advantage. Call it looking after the pennies if you like rather than running around like a headless chicken saying how bad things are.  [:D]

[Quillan]

Just dug my notification out and payment dates are 12 Feb to 12 Nov inclusive.

[Jotty]

Blows a hole in my theory then!  [:)]

[Quillan]

I think it just depends on when the meter reading man gets to you and the money to get you up to date is in their bank account.

[Graham & Brenda]

If youdon't want to pay the same each month, you can pay by direct debit just based on usage - a mix of estimates and actual readings. As I'm not a great fan of estimates I use Relevé Confiance. EDF e-mail me before the bill is due (bi-monthly) and ask me to submit a reading by e-mail. They send an e-mail by return acknowledging receipt and confirming the figure I have submitted.  This way I keep up to date with no nasty surprises.